Sunday, November 25, 2018

Interview with Sheryl Jaffe in the Mirror


Sheryl on Upper Khandroling during Summer 2017 Retreat


Recently Naomi Zeitz interviewed Sheryl Jaffe, a founding member of Khandroling Paper Cooperative in the international newspaper of  the Dzogchen Community, The Mirror



Sheryl's joyful presence as our lead faculty and artist member has graced our many events since our inception in 2012. 




Sunday, October 21, 2018

November 2018 Holiday Papermaking Workshops


Amanda and Madeline in the studio. Photo by Jacqueline Gens

Khandroling Paper Cooperative will will offer Holiday cardmaking with handmade paper on the following Saturdays in November:

November 3
November 10
November 17
November 24


Paper-making for Holiday Cards and Gifts
Khandroling Paper Cooperative (KPC)


Dates: Every Saturday in November
Time: 2:00pm-5:00pm
Fee: $20 Suggested Donation

Location: Basement of the Yellow Schoolhouse, Tsegyalgar East, 18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA
For questions contact Amanda at: amandamaze13@gmail.com



Friday, May 18, 2018

Summer 2018 Papermaking Events



Work on Hand made paper by Naomi Zeitz, 2018

Greetings from Khandroling Paper Cooperative, now in our 7th year of operation at Tsegyalgar East, 18 Schoolhouse Road, Conway, MA 01370.


Since our last post here in February 2018 ( about our duo Sheryl Jaffee and Brenda Lilly's Lantern Workshop)  Amanda and Madeline each held workshops for special interest groups.



Some of our origami Lanterns inspired by Brenda Lilly


Madeline (left) and Amanda cleaning the studio

In April while I was on a writers retreat with KPC member Ingmar Pema Dechen in Mississippi to work on our 60 Losar poetry/illustration collaboration, Madeline led a workshop for the dynamic local artist and writers group Exploded View.

You can read about them here

Greenfield Recorder article here.

Trish Crapo one of the members of Exploded View wrote a long article on the paper cooperative at Tsegyalgar East during our Japanese Binding workshop two years ago. At that time we talked about making paper from ephemera such as old love letters.  On a chilly day this April Trish initiated her writing group to do a session of papermaking for projects they create fro their forthcoming fall exhibit at the Great Falls Discovery Center in September 2018. Madeline will also participate in leading a papermaking workshop open to the public. The Great Falls Discovery center is a jewel of a venue in our region. 

Here are a few pictures of the ladies from Exploded View at work:





From making pulp to pressing and drying finished papers
We do everything low tech

NEW Packers Corner 50th Anniversary in Guilford, VT

This summer we will participate in the 50th Anniversary of Packers Corner Farm in Guilford, VT where I lived from 1976-1982 before heading out to Naropa Institute (now University) to study Tibetan Buddhism.  In the early 1990's, The "Farm" hosted many of us from Tara Mandala attending Chogyal Namkhai Norbu retreats at Tsegyalgar.   One year in 1994 we all took the Base SMS exam, the first at Tsegyalgar. The farm served as refuge for many of us. While there I attended the Ada Comstock Scholars program at Smith College in its early years.


View from top of the old peach Orchard 
towards the farm


The full schedule of the 50th Anniversary is here.


Our papermaking session will begin at 1:30 PM on Saturday, June 23, 2018
but we will be there from late morning thru evening. A private event, participants arriving from all over the country will walk away with a portfolio of fine papers for calligraphy, painting, collage and lantern making.  Led by Madeline, Sheryl and Amanda. I'll be there too with the aim of  making paper lanterns.


Amanda Pollock will lead the 3rd Annual Khandroling Retreat Papermaking and Calligraphy workshop  from Saturday, July 21 - Sunday, July 29, 2018.  Full description forthcoming.


Works from last Summer's Khandroling retreat
using sacred substances led by Sheryl


Shelburne Falls 250th Anniversary -June 23/24, 2018

Details TBA. KPC was gifted a thousand origami cranes so these will be distributed to the public and a paper demo scheduled.  

Highland Village Day of the Dead Installation -October 31, 2018

Come join us at Beautiful Highland Village Public Housing in Shelburne Falls (my home) to view a traditional Day of the Dead shrine created by residents for departed family, friends, and pets. Refreshments provided.


KPC Studio Day of the Dead Shrine, 2016
in the basement of Tsegyalgar East

Every week some of us make art which requires concentration and the great joy of stepping out of one's usual mental ruminations and worries. These days I am working on creating "Talking Sticks," a native American tradition for residents to use at their meetings as a conduit for deep listening. 

Future Workshops in the at Khandroling Paper Cooperative in the works--
  • A Workshop in printing slogans and posters on our etching press
  • More Mindful Origami
  • Adventures in Collage and Paper weaving
In some sense all art-making is stealing from the sacred source. To make amends we share our art in a spirit of generosity to benefit others and in good cheer to promote well-being. Come visit us! If you woudl like us to host an event for your group, contact Jacqueline at jacqueline.gens@gmail.com or call 413-522-1125.





















Saturday, February 24, 2018

The Zen of Papermaking

My friend Claudia sent me Pat's poem about papermaking. Patricia Donegan is known for her Haiku. I first met her at Naropa Institute (now University) in the early 1980's.

Her poem here is evocative of how we approach the art of hand made paper at Khandroling Papermaking Cooperative and the magic of transformation with the ultimate goal of first stroke which reflects our mind. Here below the famous enzo. 








Threads

The zen monk
took his worn out robe
made it into a shirt to hoe peas

when it wore out, he made a hat
        to keep his bald head warm
the hat wore out, he Made a pouch
        for his calligraphy brush
when it wore out, he used it for a rag
        to wipe the floors of the temple
the rag wore out, he tore it into strips
        of cloth to bind a book of haiku
when it wore out, he cut it into a tiny
        button for his robe.

Can I be a Zen monk?
take Vanderbilt bluejeans, Halston caftans,
             Pierre Cardin ties, Brooks Brothers’ suits
strip   the cloth into rags
put them in a vat, boil down to pulp
& beat it into fine threads
make into sheets of paper
then take a brush, with one lightening swoop
of my hand, write a poem in black ink
on the blank pages!

                     Patricia Donegan



The best part beating the cooked fibers into a pulp